Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Resuming sexual activity after childbirth can be difficult for many mothers

Resuming sexual activity after pregnancy isn't always like riding a bike, especially for mothers experiencing postpartum pain, fatigue and stress.

5 Feb 2019

Insertions of long-acting reversible contraceptives have increased after 2016 election

Insertions of long-acting reversible contraceptive methods increased in the 30 business days after the 2016 presidential election based on an analysis of data for a large group of commercially insured women.

5 Feb 2019

Online prediction tool for kidney stones developed

Kidney stones are a common and painful condition, with many sufferers experiencing recurrent episodes. Most people who pass an initial stone want to know their chances of future episodes, but this has not always been easy to predict.

4 Feb 2019

Researchers identify treatable mechanism in patients with schizophrenia

For reasons that are unclear, schizophrenia patients have fewer connections between the neurons in the brain. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and Massachusetts General Hospital, USA, have now succeeded in creating human cell models that show that there is an excessive degradation of connections in the brain of these patients, and they have been able to link this to a genetic risk variant for the disease.

4 Feb 2019

Folate levels decrease significantly during months with higher solar radiation

Thus, this team of scientists have determined a seasonal risk threshold among patients with folate deficiency, since, according to this study, folate levels decrease significantly in those months when solar radiation is higher.

4 Feb 2019

Children born after fertility treatment do not have greater risk of developing cancer

Children born after assisted reproductive technology do not appear to be at greater risk of developing cancer than other children, according to the first study to look at the long-term cancer risk in ART children compared to those in the general population or who were naturally conceived by subfertile women.

4 Feb 2019

Folate levels decrease significantly when solar radiation is higher, shows study

For the first time, researchers from the University of Malaga have evidenced this relationship, confirming that ultraviolet radiation affects directly in proportion to folate in blood.

4 Feb 2019

Breast cancer risk highest two decades after childbirth finds study

According to new research, women are at a highest risk of breast cancer, more than two decades after having given birth. This finding comes along with another in a separate study that reveals that breast cancers occurring after childbirth are more likely to spread compared to breast cancers in women who never had children.

3 Feb 2019

Genetic testing improves diagnoses of abnormalities in developing babies

Genetic testing improves the diagnoses of abnormalities in developing babies that are picked up during ultrasound scans, scientists report today (31 January) in The Lancet.

1 Feb 2019

Short anti-rejection therapy improves survival of transplanted pancreatic islets in diabetic animals

Transplanted pancreatic islets in diabetic animals can survive for a long period of time if the animals are treated with short anti-rejection therapy around the time of the transplant.

1 Feb 2019

New link found between psychiatric disorders and events during the prenatal stage

Particular genetic variants in the human genome that are important for the development of the brain early in the life of the fetus are frequently found in psychiatric disorders. This is shown by a study carried out by iPSYCH.

31 Jan 2019

New study explores the use of Natural Cycles app in 'Plan a Pregnancy' mode

Natural Cycles have initiated an independent study to explore the views and experiences of people who currently use, or have previously used, the Natural Cycles app in 'Plan a Pregnancy' mode.

31 Jan 2019

Study finds need for early childhood obesity prevention interventions

A Rutgers study has found a need for early childhood obesity prevention interventions beyond preschool education settings.

31 Jan 2019

PFAS chemicals pass through the placenta to fetal tissues throughout pregnancy

In a study published in Environment International researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden show how PFAS industrial chemicals, which are used in many consumer products, pass through the placenta throughout pregnancy to accumulate in fetal tissue.

30 Jan 2019

Climate change linked to increase in congenital heart defects

Rising temperatures stemming from global climate change may increase the number of infants born with congenital heart defects in the United States over the next two decades and may result in as many as 7,000 additional cases over an 11 year-period in eight representative states, according to new research in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

30 Jan 2019

Black women have much higher risk of pregnancy-related stroke than whites

The risk of pregnancy-related stroke is much higher among black women than among white women, according to preliminary research to be presented in Honolulu at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2019, a world premier meeting for researchers and clinicians dedicated to the science and treatment of cerebrovascular disease.

30 Jan 2019

Community hospitals link arms with prestigious facilities to raise their profiles

After seven years of a vigorous fight, Jim Hart worried he was running out of options. Diagnosed with prostate cancer at age 60, Hart had undergone virtually every treatment — surgery, radiation and hormones — to eradicate it. But a blood test showed that his level of prostate-specific antigen, which should have been undetectable, kept rising ominously. And doctors couldn’t determine where the residual cancer was lurking.

29 Jan 2019

Researchers compare treatment options for fecal incontinence

It is a common health problem that causes uncommon personal discomfort. Fecal incontinence, or accidental stool leakage, affects some 8 to 10 percent of the 325 million people in the United States. In up to half of patients, there is both fecal and urinary incontinence.

29 Jan 2019

NIH funds first artificial pancreas trial for pregnant women with type 1 diabetes in the U.S.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a R01 grant to a multi-institutional team to develop and evaluate a pregnancy-specific Artificial Pancreas in a sequence of in-clinic and transitional environment clinical trials.

25 Jan 2019

New study will improve identification antenatal anxiety

A landmark study by experts at the University of Stirling will help health professionals improve the identification of severe and problematic anxiety in pregnant women.

25 Jan 2019